


yours for a day (and maybe even forever after)

by setosdarkness, thefinalcross (setosdarkness)



Category: Free!
Genre: Auctions, F/M, Fluff, High School, M/M, Plot What Plot, beware of nagisa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 17:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setosdarkness/pseuds/setosdarkness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/setosdarkness/pseuds/thefinalcross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Haru-chan, I don't think anyone will want to buy you, looking like that! You should boost your appeal!" </p>
<p>To raise money for the Iwatobi Swim Club, Nagisa suggests the unthinkable: auctioning themselves off during the school fair. AKA, the one where Nagisa is an evil mastermind, Makoto is a suffering bro, Rei is a butterfly, Rin is a tsundere and Haru is an enabler who will strip in the middle of the school if Rin doesn't buy him now damn it.</p>
<p>:: mainly RinHaru, HaruRin Sharkbait BL but has hints of other pairings like NagiRei, SeiKou, etc. ::</p>
            </blockquote>





	yours for a day (and maybe even forever after)

**Content** : Silliness + rare lighthearted fic from me LOL

Feedback, reviews, comments, suggestions and violent reactions are all welcome :D

•••

"…It's still not enough, huh?"

The late afternoon sun paints orange-red hues through the entire swimming area, casting an inviting tint to the waters. It's mostly the reason why there's a fluffy towel plopped unceremoniously over Haruka's face and it's definitely the explanation for the human barricade that's alternately blocking the pool and bodily restraining the water-obsessed teenager.

Rei is quite reliable when it comes to academics – math, in particular – but even he's stumped when it comes to thinking of ways to make the pitiful pile in front of him grow. There's a group discount for the newly-opened indoor-pool-slash-sports-gymnasium and the membership application has an even larger incentive for group applicants and there's a _deadline_ for the application – and they just have to get that.

Even with the prize money from securing a spot in the prefectural tournament and the savings from Makoto's two part-time jobs, it's still not even half of what they would need.

"I know!" Nagisa cheerfully exclaims as he hammers down on the first piggy bank that he offered as a personal sacrifice. The sound of porcelain breaking and coins spilling out are almost loud enough to mask his yet another vile suggestion. "I'm sure pictures of Ama-chan-sensei will sell _really_ well~!"

"I can hear you, you know~" Amakata-sensei just as cheerfully chimes in from somewhere five meters to their left and the four teenage boys gulp nervously as the deceptively sweet club advisor grips her umbrella's handle with enough force to elicit strange and very dangerous creaking sounds. "So don't you even dare~"

"Aw, that's no fun~!" Nagisa pouts with all the common sense of a raving lunatic, "I wasn't even going to suggest you to wear swimsuits—"

There's a whooshing sound as a sharpened pencil nearly pokes Nagisa in the eye – Amakata-sensei remains smiling but there's a vein that's about to burst on her forehead – Nagisa is still grinning like a loon – and Kou is squealing about her pencil suddenly disappearing from her hands.

Makoto sighs as he ponders about the feasibility of taking on another part-time job and the lesser probability of convincing Haruka to sell boxed lunches during the school fair. "I can try asking Coach Sasabe for a part-time job at his pizza place," and he's already lamenting on how they're giving their ex-coach a lot of pain, "and maybe Haru-chan can cook for the school fair…?"

"I'll only cook mackerel."

Nagisa rubs the towel on top of Haruka's should-be-dry-by-now hair, just as Haruka's about to lift his face and stare at the inviting pool.

All in all, it's a fairly normal afternoon for the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club.

•••

…Except that there's nothing normal about leaving for the day without really accomplishing anything permanent about saving the sorry state of their club's funds—or lack thereof.

Makoto receives a call at about nine in the evening – and with supreme body maneuver that's expected of someone used to dealing with siblings wrestling fiercely all around him, he manages to pick up the phone within three rings, all while feeding his younger sister with his right hand and placing a band-aid on his younger brother's swollen nose with his left.

"Mako-chan!" There's the tell-tale sound of munching and swallowing on the other end and he's almost tempted to futilely scold Nagisa for eating, drinking and speaking at the same time. "You don't h—have to, _crunch_ , take another, _chew_ , part-time job! I'll take care of, _munch, crunch, chew_ , of everything! So don't worry, okay~!"

Makoto fondly chuckles and earns violent tugging on both of his arms. "Thank you, Nagisa. Tell us about your idea tomorrow during our meeting, okay?"

Nagisa chirps and possibly mock-salutes him over the phone and Makoto refocuses his attention on his two siblings. He's been rather worried about things – and it's not like he can burden their newest club member and underclassman Rei about it, since he's the captain – and it's not even like talking to Haru-chan will get a lot out of him, especially since he's been spending more and more time trekking to Samezuka and trespassing after school hours. Everything's been so busy with normal high school chores like exams and school fairs and part-time jobs and he hasn't found the time to talk to Haru-chan about his tenuous slide back to friendship with Rin. He's glad that their broken friendship is starting to get fixed – but he can't help but worry about his friends and he just wants everything to be okay.

Well, the first step would be to clear the problems for their swimming club, and while there's a nagging thought at the back of his head that he should be the one spearheading things as the captain, he's kind of relieved that he can rely on his friends. Everything will be okay and then everything will be just like when they were kids.

•••

…Except that everything's definitely not okay.

Nagisa's idea—

Well.

"So, I submitted our idea to the student council president, and he agreed! Now we have a spot on the—"

It's more like Nagisa has already cemented his idea to reality, rather than Nagisa sharing his idea and them brainstorming over it.

Makoto stares at the sealed and approved booth application with something akin to dread.

"We should make our booth beautiful!" Rei chimes in, before he pushes his glasses even higher up his nose, before he mutters unintelligibly about something that resembles some ancient incantation with a lot of numbers.

"…We'll be auctioning off… Iwatobi-chan straps?"

Makoto prides himself on being an expert at reading people, most especially Haru-chan, but he's stumped right now. He's not sure whether his childhood friend is acting oblivious because he's running away from the sad truth in front of them, or whether he's just that… not good with common sense.

"Silly, Haru-chan~!" Nagisa grins like a cute, harmless kid, but Makoto knows there's something more frightening than ghosts lurking underneath that smile. "We'll be _all_ auctioning ourselves!"

•••

**yours for a day  
** ( _and maybe even forever after_ )

•••

They say time flies when you're having fun, but it still flew by infinitely fast while he's busy both anticipating and dreading the arrival of their school fair.

It's not a very original idea – Makoto remembers the dating game show that Nagisa _forced_ him to watch when they were kids – but it's still intriguing enough to gather a sizeable crowd. He can hear the words of his classmates, his schoolmates and some of his neighbors as they chatter about the entertaining auction show the swimming club is about to show.

"I told you to dress nicely, Haru-chaaaaan!"

Makoto sighs as he looks at his friend's outfit. It's almost like a blatant provocation, since Nagisa sternly reminded them – and constantly texted them – last night about making sure to wear nice outfits that will showcase their assets. Makoto has an idea about what assets Nagisa is pertaining to, but he ignored that and picked something that straddles the line between casual and formal. Nevertheless, he still picked something different from his every day wear.

Makoto's gaze swivels to where Rei is stubbornly rubbing at the powder that strayed to his glasses – courtesy of Nagisa's enthusiastic spraying of some powder, make-up, thing he managed to pilfer from his mother – and Makoto almost immediately looks away and feels some strange secondhand embarrassment at seeing the rainbow-colored tights topped by the butterfly-themed shirt that Rei is so confidently sporting.

…Something different from usual. Right.

Even Kou is wearing something cute today, despite them unanimously agreeing that Rin is just a tsundere – even though he yelled something about not caring what stupidity his sister gets into.

Amakata-sensei is wearing a lot of ruffles but there's a dangerous glint in her eyes that's daring them to suggest that she join their auction festival.

…And Haru is wearing his school uniform – and most certainly, his swimming trunks underneath.

"Haru-chaaaaaan, I don't think _a~n~y~one_ will want to buy you, looking like that!" Makoto can already think of one person who would most definitely want to buy Haruka even if he's slathered in something gross, but he knows that Nagisa is just teasing. "You should boost your appeal!"

"…"

Wordlessly, Haruka starts stripping.

Before Makoto can even stop his friend's hands that are straying obscenely low – before Rei can even sputter at Nagisa's hands that are quite intent on blocking his eyes-that-cannot-even-see-without-glasses-for-good ness-sakes – there's already a sizable interruption.

"…Wow. You guys look… um."

Makoto has never seen his fellow captain at a loss for words – except maybe for that one time that Kou showed up wearing twin pigtails – and also maybe except for that one other time when they all walked in on Haruka and Rin alternating between screaming at each other about some memories of their childhood and slamming each other with huge body pillows – or also maybe except that one scarring time when Nagisa was doing hands-on training with Rei about the butterfly stroke, except that they were not even in the vicinity of the pool and that they were both too naked for public knowledge.

Anyway.

Their school will probably become known as the strangest school in the district, but as long as there are no pictures, there isn't any proof—

_Click_.

Nitori has the gall to look sheepish as he takes another picture of the chaos that is the backstage of their auction booth.

Right.

"…Thank you for coming all the way here," Makoto says, ever the gracious host, especially since the silence is almost too unbearable, and even more especially since Haruka has ceased his stripping attempt for the hour and is now not-so-subtly looking beyond Nitori and Captain Mikoshiba. He feels strange saying those words, because he's not even sure who invited these people. While it's true that the school fairs are traditionally opened to the entire neighborhood, Samezuka can hardly be considered as within their area.

"Thanks for inviting us," and Captain Mikoshiba's shaking his hands as part of their greeting, but his eyes are big and gaping at Kou.

Nagisa interrupts their greetings by holding out a hand expectantly to Mikoshiba, who groans painfully and resignedly. Nitori steps forward and hands a sizeable purse to Nagisa's upturned palm.

"Thank you so much for your business~" Nagisa sing-songs and Makoto realizes that _oh_ , _Nagisa has never been scared of a tsundere Rin_ , just as Kou is pushed towards the Samezuka captain that bought her even before the auction started.

Makoto chances another glance at Haruka and finds himself smiling at the disappointed yet very expectant look on Haruka's face.

…Well, maybe this auction will bring something good, after all.

•••

…Except maybe there's more chaos than expected.

There's one group of first-years that yell for _Kou-chan_ to be added to the line-up – and those poor boys mysteriously disappear five minutes afterwards.

There's also one very brave group of seniors that discuss the merits of joining the swimming club if it means seeing Ama-chan-sensei in one of those curve-showing swimsuits – those poor boys get eviscerated on the spot by some crazily accurate pencils flying at the speed of light – and Makoto doesn't even want to start getting worried for their fates.

To the left side of the stage, there's a brewing fistfight between guys who guffaw at Rei's… unique appearance and girls who cheer for Rei-kun and his absurd dressing sense. Makoto also doesn't want to start worrying about those students, because Nagisa looks even happier than normal and that's just not a good sign for everybody involved. That's also how he looked when a highschooler taunted him for being a girly boy when Nagisa was in third grade – and the highschooler who was also in basketball varsity limped for three months and avoided Nagisa like the plague forever after that.

The price for Rei's auction isn't moving that much – not because nobody wants to buy him; it's kind of surprising how popular he is, but Makoto has a younger sister who sighs dreamily all over guys with glasses, so he sort of understands – but because most of the students' attention is on the girls versus boys fight about the merits and demerits of having Rei for a day.

Makoto's already been bought by two seniors – one is the head of home economics club and the other is the captain of the school's basketball team. There's a rule about only winner of the auction, but it was hastily discarded when the two buyers offered high prices that rivals the amount that Mikoshiba surrendered earlier. Makoto's kind of glad that he's not just being bought to be some trophy though – he already made arrangements to help out during the basketball club's game later today with the neighborhood association team; he's already set for helping out on the home economics club's presentation for the finale of the school fair.

Nagisa is saved for the last – he's the most popular member of their team after all, as he's the only one sociable and sly enough to have two fanclubs.

Haruka… is on one corner, mostly ignoring everything else, but Makoto can see beyond the deadpan look that's covering the other's face. Haruka is very much looking for Rin – and to be honest, even Makoto is curious to the redhead's whereabouts. Completely repaired friendship or not, Makoto just can't consider Rin as someone who will allow some unnamed person buying Haruka, even if it's just for some lighthearted enjoyment.

There's a victorious cheer from the sidelines as Makoto tears his worried eyes away from his stoic friend. Apparently, first-year girls are stronger and scarier than the guys – as a bunch of them are now contributing to a huge pile of money that Nagisa is collecting. Makoto is quite curious on who fetched more money between him and Rei, but Nagisa's smile is still as cheery as ever so it's probably best not to approach the younger boy. Not for the first time, Makoto wonders about Nagisa's dedication to the club, since he's willing to swallow his jealousy for the sake of the team.

…Or maybe not that self-sacrificial, since Makoto can still remember that it was Nagisa that tiptoe-led them to Haruka and Rin's bizarre pillowfight last time. Stalking Rei around shouldn't be too much of a problem for someone of his caliber, then.

In any case, Haruka is up for grabs next and Makoto still can't see Rin anywhere.

Is Rin sick or crippled right now?

Is Rin unable to come to Iwatobi – is that why Nitori is taking way too many pictures of Haru?

Is Rin captured by some aliens, maybe – is that why Mikoshiba looks pained even while he's practically living the dream of standing way too close to Kou?

Makoto inwardly debates the pros and cons of using his allowance for the next two months in order to buy Haruka – he's not so sure he wants to witness the fallout of Rin knowing that Haru has been bought by some stranger, especially since Haruka strips without even a hint of invitation— _like now_.

"Haru-chan!"

There's a cacophony of shrieks from the crowd – not all of them as scandalized as Makoto cry; a small amount of them as flabbergasted as Rei's yell; worrying amount of them as interested as Nagisa's squeal – as Haruka emotionlessly unbuttons his shirt and proceeds to quickly unbuckle his belt, before moving to the zipper of his pants.

Haruka stops though, his pants unbuttoned and zipper pulled all the way down, the pants only staying upright because of the grip Haruka has on waistline.

"Rin," Haruka addresses the teenager wearing a black cap, head bowed down, right in front of their booth, and Makoto almost slaps his face in delayed realization, "if you don't buy me right now, I will strip all—"

Kou smiles serenely from a few meters away from her brother in disguise, looking a bit too pleased despite the general chaos.

"Damn it, fine!"

Makoto grins as well, as he watches his friend go through the actions of rewinding his stripping act.

Everything is still fine, isn't it?

•••  
•••  
•••

"…You're really strange."

"I don't want to hear that from you."

"Huh?!" Rin snarls, but even with his teeth bared and eyes narrowed into slits, there's no real anger in him. Not anymore. "What the hell do you mean, Haru?!"

Haru side-steps so that even their elbows and shoulders and knees are brushing together as they climb the steps back to Haru's house.

"…I thought you wouldn't come."

Rin rolls his eyes while hoping against hope that the afternoon sunlight will mask all hints of blushes on his cheeks. "Of course I would, idiot."

There's the tiniest increase of pressure as Haru squeezes their hands even tighter together.

"Of course you would, even if you're very late."

"I told you I'm sorry about oversleeping!"

"I thought you wanted to buy me even before I came onstage." Haru bumps their shoulders together purposely as he leads the two of them inside the house. "…So that 'nobody else can see me'."

Rin stiffens a bit at those words that came from his mouth the night before. "Who would want to buy you?!"

"Who would, indeed," Haru drops off the money that they collected from the auction inside the fairly unused cabinet in the living room, before tugging Rin to the bedroom, hands still linked together.

"Who would want to buy someone who drools in his sleep and hogs all the blankets?!"

"I don't," Haru denies instantly, even if he really has honestly no idea, "and you hog all the pillows anyway."

"That never happened!" Rin shoves him lightly but doesn't let go as well. "You can't even sleep without having at least five bottles of water under the bed!"

"Not true," because it's at least ten bottles – doesn't Rin know how to do basic math, "and I can't sleep because you nibble on my fingers all the time."

"That's just _one time_!"

"Hmph," Haru grunts, but he's smiling.

Everything is fine.

•••

…Except for maybe one more thing.

"…so now that you own me for a day, what will you have me do?" Haru thinks about it for a moment and decides that Nagisa's advice is worth taking. "… _Master_?"

"M-M-M- _Master_?!" Rin's voice practically squeaks like a little kid suffering through puberty the first time, his face inflamed.

Haru grins when Rin sputters and blushes for five minutes afterwards.

There was a lot of chaos and there wasn't even a lot of time for swimming because of the auction, but he's thankful for Nagisa giving him this chance of seeing something he has never seen before.

"That's right, _master_ ," Haru teases again and grins inwardly when Rin nearly faints from the overload.

Everything is really fine – especially since he can apparently see Rin like this again and again.

•••

(And Haru wonders if it's too late to remind Rin that there's no point in shelling out money earlier, since he has already owned Haru ever since a long time ago.)

•••

**end(?)**

…no plot whatsoever LOL

I wanted to sneak in a scene about Haru and Rin watching horror movies – and Haru musing about how nothing fazes Rin – and then Rin will go all blush-y and tsundere about nothing in the movies scare him because his only fear is losing Haru again – and then he adds something about fearing not being an Olympic swimmer, because Haru is blushing from the out-of-nowhere romantic moment. 8D

…Maybe in a sequel or something 8D

(I will update both _the midnight call_ and _glass heart_ soon, but I'm very distracted by writing my RinHaru reincarnation cycle fic, featuring way too many fandoms and AUs to mention OTL)


End file.
